August 02, 2013 08:31 AM CDTAugust 02, 2013 08:31 AM CDTStudents in Carrollton see different side of law enforcement

Students in Carrollton see different side of law enforcement

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Photo by RUTH HAESEMEYER/special contributor

Michael Mammadov (left), 13, Jorge Garcia, 12, Brandon Prewitt, 12, and John Crisford, 13, examine a piece of carpet for evidence under the instruction of Dustin Bartram, Carrollton Police Department crime scene investigator, during the Junior Police Academy. The activity was one of several hands-on learning opportunities included in the program.

Inside the Carrollton Police Department on Jackson Road, Alexis Ferguson, 13, is carefully examining a piece of carpet for forensic evidence. In a few minutes, she’ll be headed down the hall to make an impression of the sandy footprint of a suspect.

Alexis is one of dozens of middle-school students who spent a week this summer learning about the Carrollton Police Department, its procedures and its officers at the department’s Junior Police Academy.

The program, which was presented four times during July, allowed participants to learn about real-world police work.

“It’s amazing,” Alexis said. “It’s more than TV can ever give you.”

The students also get to experience parts of the job. They use radar guns to test speed, do building searches involving “suspects” (played by police staffers), lift fingerprints for examination and more.

“They just get to do some really cool stuff,” said Nicole Rodriguez, police media specialist.

Detailed investigation

The Junior Police Academy, now in its third year, is run primarily by Carrollton Police Department school resource officers Shannon Hartzell and Shanna Weissmann.

The team got information from other area departments with similar programs and even attended a comparable Frisco program before adapting the ideas for Carrollton. That first year, they had 58 students participate. The next year, that number more than doubled.

Weissmann said participants, who are asked to give feedback at the end of the week, almost always say they loved the program.

“The kids have thoroughly enjoyed their time,” she said.

Alee Botting, 13, seemed to be enjoying hers, anyway.

“It’s the best camp I’ve ever been to,” Alee said.

Those who help with the program have a good time, too, Rodriguez said.

“They love it,” she said. “They really get into it.”

Officers from a variety of divisions share expertise and personal stories with the students.

Alee said she was impressed to learn more about what the police do and that there’s a lot more to their jobs than what is shown on television.

“It’s fun, but dangerous at the same time,” she said.

Alee said her little brother wants to attend the program next summer. However, budget concerns may make this the academy’s last year, said Patrick Murphy, sergeant over the school resource officers.

“Our main mission is to respond to the public’s call for police service,” he said, adding that sometimes other things have to take a backseat to that mission. “Some good programs, some good projects, get suspended, get cut. It’s always an ongoing process.”

The program’s fate will be determined later this year.

‘Crimestoppers’

Regardless of the academy’s future, its main goal has been a success, Weissmann said.

Though a primary purpose of the program is to educate students on what the police do, there is a more important reason it was created.

“At school, the kids see us as just an enforcement role,” Weissmann said. “We wanted to have a way to have a positive impact with the kids so they could learn to trust us and have positive relationships with us.”

With that in mind, the program has focused its recruiting on Carrollton middle schools, though it is also open to private and home-schooled students. Some of the participants are students who are interested in law enforcement as a career, Weissmann said. Some are walking a fine line and have been encouraged to participate.

Allowing the students to learn about the department and to get to know the officers on a friendly footing benefits the police as well, Murphy said.

“Most of the time the public is dealing with police is in a negative manner,” he said. “They’re seeing us in a whole different way.”

As a result, Weissmann said, the participants in the program who attend her schools often become her “crimestoppers,” students who know they can come to her when they see trouble happening. She said the program helps them see her as an approachable individual and no longer as a frightening authority figure.

“The trust is there now,” she said.

Ruth Haesemeyer, a Carrollton-based ffreelance writer, can be reached at ruthaesemeyer@gmail.com.

Getting Involved

The Junior Police Academy is just one of the programs the Carrollton Police Department uses to build relationships with the community, said Nicole Rodriguez, police media specialist. Others include the Citizen Police Academy and presentations on topics such as Internet safety and identity theft.

“These programs enable the community to get a better feel for what we deal with as police officers,” Rodriguez said. “And these programs enable us to help the citizens with things like crime prevention.”

The next Carrollton Citizen Police Academy begins Aug. 22 and will continue each Thursday evening through Nov. 21. The free, interactive program is open to Carrollton residents ages 21 and older with no criminal convictions (except for traffic tickets).

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